


Better Off Alone

by lovely_lil_lou



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5SOS - Freeform, F/M, Mikey's kind of a dick, Radio, based off of 500 Days of Summer, fun times, no smut bc het smut isn't as fun as gay smut, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-16
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2018-01-19 16:29:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1476406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovely_lil_lou/pseuds/lovely_lil_lou





	1. Chapter 1

"You'll just be up here most of the time." Ashton told the new girl with a friendly smile, gesturing toward the small desk near a tall stack of CD cases atop a file cabinet, and a vintage looking coat rack. 

The whole room, from what she could see, looked worn out and overused. Papers were stacked in messy piles on top of file cabinets, CDs and records and cassette tapes littered every shelving unit along the walls, and there were stray cords everywhere. Although it looked like a place she could barely function in, she could figure something out. Maybe for some extra brownie points, she could tidy up a bit. 

"Okay." Jasey Rae replied, once her thoughts had been refocused on the desk. Peering down at the random pictures carved into the wooden desk, she ran a hand over the bumpy wooden surface. Intricate swirls, stick figures in risqué positions, and words and phrases littered every available inch. It was dizzying almost, how much was going on in such a small space. It was almost mesmerizing how- 

"Like the desk?" She looked up at Ashton - her new boss - as he noticed her interest in the unintentional art piece and continued to speak. 

"All of the social media geeks that've worked here before drew pictures on their first day." He explained to her, "I guess it became a tradition with the station. Everyone started doing it on their first day, and now it's just normal. " Her eyes shifted from his smile to the desk again, and she shook her head. 

"Such a waste of a perfect quality desk." She smiled and looked back up at him. 

"Hey! It was a creative idea, and I support creativity." Jasey raised an eyebrow as her smile twisted into a smirk. Ashton took note of the way her lips seemed to curve up in a perfect line. "Don't insult the way I run my business or I may have to fire you." He teased with a wink, resting his hand in the small of her back to direct her towards the studio. 

Ashton Irwin... He wasn't someone that you would look at and think to be the boss of a radio station. He has the personality of a comedian with the smile of a kid and the face of an actor. His voice was chirpy and slightly annoying to Jasey, but she could get over it. His style screamed "I'm in a band" while his everything else screamed "I got all A's and B's in high school", which was good in a way, but it also contradicted with the rest of him. He would take a while to figure out. That is, if she "sticks around long enough to find out" as he had put it. Maybe he was just trying to flirt with her, but she was bad at assuming things when they weren't true. It was probably just another ones of those cases where he's trying to be friendly to the new girl by showing her things and saying nice things to her. He seemed like that kind of person. 

"It's the mid-day show right now, and Kaity's the head of that. You'll become good friends with her, I hope. She's the only other girl that works here, you know. We don't really get many girls that want to work here, so she'll be glad to have you." He smiled down at her again; he seemed to do that frequently. 

"I'm sure she's a nice girl. I've heard her show a couple of times." 

"Yeah. Hey! Her show's about to end and Mikey can handle the studio by himself. I'll let you out early if you'll go to dinner with me?" 

"Uh, I.. don't know..." She looked down at her shoes, her cheeks dusted with a light shade of red. 

"Aw, come on. You told me that you just moved here, and I could be your first friend." Then he smiled that stupid, cute smile and she couldn't say no to that face. 

"Okay," She grinned back at him and sighed, "I'll go to dinner with you. As long as we get pizza." 

"Deal. You ready to go now?" 

"Sure, I guess." 

He walked behind her, leading her towards the front door, where she almost smacked right into a tall boy with hair that looked like the milky way. He was pale for someone living in Southern California, and he dressed similarly to Ashton. His eyes were definitely something else, and when she stared directly into them, she could actually feel her heart hurt. 

"Sorry.." She said shyly, biting the inside of her cheek. 

All he did was glance down at her and continue walking past them, offering a small smile to Ashton, and nothing to her. 

"Oh..." She mumbled, walking out the door and waiting for Ash to catch up to her side. 

"That's Mikey... You'll probably hate him at first. He doesn't seem very nice, but he's actually one of my best friends." 

"Oh. I don't think he likes me all that much." 

"He'll become nicer to you. Don't worry." He reassured her with another smile. There wasn't a moment he didn't smile, huh... 

\-- 

"So... That was the night show host?" Jasey asked, cutting off a piece of her pepperoni pizza with the side of her fork. 

"Mikey?" Jasey nodded, and he sighed, "Yeah. Its been two years now, and he's still there. Surprised me, actually. I thought he would quit after a couple of months, but the listeners love him, and so does everyone else at the station." Jasey just about choked on her bite of pizza, and Ashton let out a chuckle. "Surprised?" 

"No, it's just... How do people like that asshole?" She already didn't like him, and she thought it would be necessary to tell Ashton. After all, he had been working with Mikey for two years apparently, and he had to know how to deal with him. 

"He'll get better, don't worry. He was just late, and he's only nice to me because I'm his boss. Kaity loves him. So does our friend, Calum. Don't worry." He reached out and touched her hand in a comforting way, causing Jasey's stomach to sink. She really did think he was cute. Not really her type to date, although his smile was irresistible. Seriously, how could you disagree with that face? 

"I'll take your word for it. It's not like he seems like a bad person." 

"He really isn't." 

She nodded and focused on eating her giant slice of pizza, looking up at Ashton periodically to find that he was watching her eat. It came off as a bit creepy, but he was just so cute... She couldn't help but smile back as she chewed, shaking her head. "You like to stare at people, don't you." 

"I like staring at pretty people." 

"Oh... Um." Her cheeks turned pink, and she wiped her mouth with a clean napkin. "Thanks, I guess." 

She was confused, since no one in Seattle had ever thought she was pretty. Actually, that was probably because she had no friends. She wasn't 'stoner' enough for the stoners, she wasn't 'hipster' enough for the hipsters, and she wasn't 'mature' enough for the business people. No one had really ever talked to her in school, which was good since she had always hated the people at her high school anyways. She didn't stay in contact with anyone and she always sat on the internet at home instead of going out to make friends. Now, it wasn't any different. So, maybe it was good to have Ashton around. He could introduce her to people and she could actually make a life for herself here. 

"I really do mean it. You're very pretty." 

"Aw, Ashton. Stop. Please." She whined, smiling to hide the fact that she wasn't complimenting him back. 

"So, uh," Ashton started, pushing his thick framed glasses up the bridge of his nose, "I think it's important that we exchange numbers. You know, to keep in contact about work... and stuff..." He smiled shyly as he slid his phone across the table, and it stopped in front of Jasey. A new contact page was already opened with her name, 'Jasey Rae Holton' typed in, and the cursor was blinking in the phone number box. She looked up at him and shook her head, smiling as she grabbed the phone and carefully typed in her cellphone number. Pressing the home button, she clicked on the camera app and took a picture with her eyes crossed and pouty lips. It looked really dumb, but she chose that as her contact picture anyway. She added a heart eyes emoji next to her last name, and she handed the phone back to Ashton. 

"There ya go." He looked down at the screen and smiled as he saw her contact picture and the change she had made to her name. 

"Cute picture you took there." 

"Did you see my name? It looks cuter like that." His smile grew so big that his dimples looked like craters on his cheeks, and he looked away from her for a few seconds to recompose himself. 

"Yeah, I think so too." 

"Aww. Thanks!" She replied sweetly, looking down at her own phone. "Wait. Shit. I have to go meet my new roommate. Thank you for taking me out. Here," She took ten dollars out of her wallet and left it on the table. "To pay for my part of dinner." She explained. 

"No need," Ashton countered with a shy grin. "I've got the bill, Jas. It's okay if I call you that, right?" 

"Oh, okay. Yeah, as long as I can call you Ash." She smiled back at him and stood up from the table, sliding her arm through her purse strap. "I'll see you tomorrow at work." 

"Sounds good. See you tomorrow." 

"Bye!" She said excitedly, walking away from the table and toward the front door of the pizza place. It wasn't a far walk to her new apartment, and her roommate hadn't been there when she put all of her stuff inside. Hopefully 'Valerie' wouldn't mind the clutter of boxes that were scattered around Jasey's new room. If she got yelled at the second she got home, she would have to find friends so that she would never have to be home. But hopefully that wouldn't happen. 

She thought about friends, and the radio station, and that night show host, Mikey, as she walked along the sidewalk through the bitter LA night. Maybe his show was still going on... She grabbed her headphones from her bag and plugged them into her phone, clicking on the radio app she had downloaded a couple of days before. Once she found the right station, she clicked on it and heard 'Sweater Weather' playing through the headphones. As the song ended, she heard a guys voice and she sighed. Well... He spoke, and when he did, she got chills. Maybe it was from the breeze, or maybe it was from hearing the boy with the galaxy hair speak. Who knows... She continued to walk, listening to him talk about the upcoming contests and what songs would be played next. 

Ashton still sat at the pizza restaurant, smiling down at his phone that now had the cutest girl in LA's number. All he had to worry about was when would be the appropriate time to text her.


	2. Chapter 2

It was seven at night, and Jasey's shift at work was almost over. Michael was bugging her and she actually couldn't get anything done. For three minutes now she had been debating on what website to post to next, and she decided on Facebook. 

"You know that your lips are probably really good for a lot of things?" He asked, interrupting her thought process with a smile. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. 

"Wow, thanks so much." Jasey chirped sarcastically. Michael fucking Clifford was actually getting on her last nerve, and even though she was completely sure he hated her, he wouldn't leave her alone.

"Oh, you're very welcome, sweetheart." Mikey taunted with a smirk, leaning his elbow against the tall file cabinet near her desk. 

"Don't you have a radio show to go host or something?" She asked as she pulled up the radio station's Facebook page to post a status about Michael's night show. 

"Not right now. New music for forty-five minutes straight."

"Oh, amazing. How long has that been going for now?" 

"About a minute." He replied, causing her to slam her head down on her desk. 

"Are you goin to be bugging me like this the whole night?"

"Well," He began, grabbing a chair from the wall and pulling it up next to Jasey's, "Ashton went home for the night, and you're here for another two hours. You're not my first choice of someone to talk to, but you're the only one here."

"Wow. That makes me feel so much better." She muttered, sitting back in her chair. After running a hand through her bangs, she looked over at Mikey and sighed. His eyes were so beautiful, and his hair didn't seem like it would work with anyone, but it looked good on him. Why was he such an ass?

"What are you writing?" Mikey asked, staring at the screen with facebook still opened. 

"Something about your radio show. What should I write?"

"Hmm," He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Jasey, "I would suggest something about how the new social media girl has nice boobs." 

Jasey shot a glare over at Michael and pulled up her tank top. "You're actually one of the rudest people I've ever had the displeasure of working with."

"Aw, come on. I'm not that bad." He stood up from the chair, and Jasey could feel his eyes watching her. She didn't move. Her gaze stayed on the computer screen, no matter how badly she wanted to look back and admire how the bright glow of the monitor probably illuminated all the features on his face. 

"Look," He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "I can be a good person." His voice was smooth and he talked softly; she was sure her death was coming soon. If it wasn't the comforting hold he had on her shoulders, it was going to be the way his voice made her want to melt right into the chair. He could be a total ass, but he could also be fucking adorable as shit, and she wasn't sure if she could handle another forty minutes of this. 

"Shit, Mikey. I'm trying to work." Jasey complained, tilting her head away from his. Fuck, this wasn't okay. Fuck fuck fuck. This really wasn't okay. 

"Doesn't mean I can't cuddle with my dearest co-worker while she posts about how great my show is."

"Stop it, you little shit." She said before shrugging her shoulders to get him to let go. He didn't, and she made a whiny sound, but instead he started to attack her cheeks with kisses. 

"Mikey, what the fuck? Stop." She said, drawing out the 'o' in stop. Instead, he moved his hands down and squeezed her sides which lead her to giggle uncontrollably. Michael's pink lips turned into a smile, and he continued to tickle her and attack her with kisses until she caught his hands in hers and glared at him. 

"I actually hate you." She muttered, letting go of his hands when he tried to pull them away. She sat up straight in her chair again and bit the inside of her cheek as she typed 'Tune into the station now to hear 30 minutes of all NEW music.' "Is that okay?"

"Wow, it sounds so genuine. Tell them how-"

"Too late." She said as she clicked the 'Post' button. 

"Who's the little shit now?" He asked her, and she smirked. 

"I'm pretty sure you are, still." 

They sat there quietly for a couple of minutes, Jasey logging onto their Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube to update everything going on with the station, and Mikey watching her as she did it. 

Suddenly, Mikey's voice broke the silence as he asked, "Hey, have you ever been motorboated?"

Jasey couldn't even reply. All she could do was look over at the boy with galaxy hair with a raised eyebrow and a confused look. 

"What?"

"You know, motorboating? It's where-"

"I know what it is." She snapped, not meaning to sound so harsh. "I mean, no. I haven't. Why are you asking me that?"

"I don't know. You have nice boobs. Such a shame to let them go to waste."

"Are you implying that you want to motorboat me or something?"

"Not necessarily," He said. She called bullshit, but he could actually be telling the truth. Besides, who would enjoy sticking their face in some girl's cleavage anyway? 

"Then why fucking bring it up?" She asked, pressing the off button on the computer monitor. The rest of her work could be done from her phone. No need for the computer anymore. 

"I thought you would take it as a compliment, damn." 

That earned an eyeroll from Jasey, and she turned the chair to peer up at Mikey, who had been standing behind her ever since the tickling incident. He was actually really fucking tall, and really fucking cute, but she wouldn't admit that those little details made her even more attracted to him. 

"If you want to compliment me, you should use something a bit less degrading next time." 

"Not like I was serious about it. Don't worry." 

"Whatever. I'll take your word for it." She said bluntly, causing the conversation to end. 

Mikey stood there for a few more seconds and finally turned to walk back into the studio. 

"Fine, bye." She muttered after he had shut the door, unlocking her phone to go on twitter. Nothing really ever appealed to her on her own twitter anymore, besides the occasional 'remember when' post about one direction. Actually, her old fan account had turned into her personal. At it's peak, it had 14.2k followers, but now it was down to a measly 4,458. Sadly, it wasn't surprising. Everyone had deactivated their twitters when they heard that One Direction broke up. Those times that she went on her twitter to see '#directionernight' were the times she actually cried a bit. 

Luckily, no one had chosen to bring it back tonight, and she happily scrolled down, reading about breakups and new friends and crazy nights out and people getting married. It gave her hope. That would happen to her one day. At least she hoped it would. 

A picture of an engagement ring popped up, and she sighed. She wasn't sure if she wanted to get married or not, but she wanted nothing more than to fall in love. 

Love. 

Shit, that was a scary word. It was thrown around uselessly like candy wrappers, and yet it had so much meaning. That word could make someone's life, or it could ruin someone's life. It had so much power, and people thought of it like it was nothing. Jasey didn't, though. She never used the word love unless she really meant it. She was scared of it, actually. To her, it meant so much more than just its definition. 

Becoming lost in her thoughts, she mindlessly scrolled along until her shift was over, and she sighed before locking her phone. At least she could get out of here. 

Grabbing her jacket and slipping it on, she collected her things in her purse and slung the strap over her shoulder. Before she got up, she turned on the monitor of the computer and clocked out, shutting it down once she was finished. 

Since Mikey was still here doing his show, she walked over to the studio and tapped on the window once. He looked up as he spoke and smiled when she waved goodbye. He waved back, and blew a kiss to her before she turned away to smile and walk out. She knew he was an asshole, but she still felt bad that she was leaving him alone. It should be okay. The next tech guy would show up in half an hour and keep him company. She wanted to turn back around and listen to him talk in real life, but instead she grabbed her headphones from her purse and plugged them in to listen to the station. He was talking about some weird news stories that had happened in the past week. Apparently, a woman had been smuggling Mexican dogs over the Mexico/California border and selling them on the black market. He tried to read a line of the article and giggled in the middle of the sentence. As soon as she heard that fucking giggle, her heart sunk to her stomach. 

Shit, that was so cute.


End file.
